LEGO Marvel Super Heroes game pre-order bonus

The game is not due out until the end of October, but GameStop has apparently unveiled the exclusive preorder bonus content it will be offering for the LEGO MARVEL Super Heroes game. According to the current pre-order page, those who buy the game in advance will receive....a Spider-Man keychain.

Oh yeah, you'll also get a download code for some extra characters.

LEGO reveals Tower of Orthanc set

Rumors have been swirling for some time about a large LEGO Lord of the Rings set based on the Tower of Orthanc, one of the many iconic locations featured in the books and the movies. A glimpse of the set showed up in the background of a single picture, fueling speculation of just how large the set could be. Now we know. I think the video pretty much speaks for itself here.

Building a major MOC using LEGO - Part 1

Halloween MOC from last year.

Like most LEGO fans, I often mess around with my spare bricks and make little scenes for my own amusement. It's a great way to kill some time and practice building techniques. I have never really done a large scale MOC (My Own Creation) before though. That's mainly because I lack a decent library of spare parts and I really am not a big fan of breaking down retail sets for the pieces. I have been a set collector for most of my life.

I feel that changing a little though. I am still a huge fan of many sets that LEGO is putting out and my want list of official releases is always growing. Some of those sets are purely about the minifigures though and less about the finished product of the build. Honestly, most of the sets with a RRP under $100 just don't excite me as much as they used to. I get a much bigger thrill diving in to a 1,000+ piece set that will take me a week to sit down and complete.

LEGO Star Wars 2013 summer sets - first look

High quality images of the upcoming summer wave of LEGO Star Wars sets are starting to circulate online. There's a good mix of stuff, although it looks like prequel/Clone Wars-era sets dominate most of the line. There are re-hashes of several popular sets, such as the Republic Gunship and AT-TE. There's also a new version of Jabba's Sail Barge, which I'm sure will make many people happy given how expensive the last release is now.

Let's start with the release most Clone Wars fans are looking forward to, the 75021 Republic Gunship.

 Then we have a new version of the AT-TE (75019)

Iron Man 3 Malibu Mansion Attack - 76007 LEGO Review

Capping off my reviews of the latest wave of Iron Man LEGO sets is a look at #76007, Iron Man: Malibu Mansion Attack.This 364 piece set is the largest of the Iron Man 3 movie tie-ins and carries a US retail price of $39.99. It also features several exclusive minifigures, including Pepper Potts.

So, let's talk about whether this set is worth plunking down $40 of your hard earned money.

Several LEGO 'The Lone Ranger' sets now available on Amazon

Despite not having watched a Lone Ranger TV episode since I was a young child, I find myself surprisingly interested in this upcoming line of sets. I guess a large part of that is the complete lack of a recent wild west theme from LEGO. There's just something about bandits and wide brimmed hats in brick form that seems appealing to me.

Wal-Mart briefly had the sets online earlier this month and I have seen at least a few reports of them being spotted in the wild. Amazon.com currently has a few of the sets available for preorder at RRP, with an expected shipping date of April 15th.

Up for preorder so far are the Cavalry Builder (79106), Comanche Camp (79107), and Stagecoach Escape (79108). The larger sets are not yet up, but I will add them when they are. The train and mine are available through horribly overpriced third party sellers, just in case you do not want to wait a week.

UPDATE: All sets now available! Silver Mine Shootout (79110), Constitution Train Chase (79111), and Colby City Showdown (79109) are all now listed at RRP.

Iron Man Extremis Sea Port Battle - 76006 LEGO Review

Next up on our tour of Iron Man 3 LEGO sets, we have the Extremis Sea Port Battle. This 195 piece set has a US retail price of $19.99 and includes three minifigures, making it a fairly reasonable value for a licensed set at that price point. Of course, it also features both Iron Man and War Machine, making it even more appealing to the Super Heroes fans out there.

This is the middle-sized set in the Iron Man 3 movie line. You can read my first review of the Iron Man vs. the Mandarin set here.